


Complimentary

by LaurytheLatrator



Category: The Mentalist
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Insecurity, Some manhandling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-08
Updated: 2014-05-08
Packaged: 2018-01-23 23:34:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1583501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaurytheLatrator/pseuds/LaurytheLatrator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jane realizes he has to actually hold Lisbon down to get her to hear and accept all the things he loves about her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Complimentary

"What're you doing?" He mumbled, able to see the shadows of her fingers trailing over his face with his eyes still closed. Lightly, one fingertip pressed over his brow.

"Nothing." Lisbon replied pleasantly, caressing the skin above the bridge of his nose. The simple repetitive touch nearly lulled Jane to sleep, but the specificity of it prickled his awareness.

"And yet it's clearly something." He opened his eyes to look up at her. Lisbon was smiling, her teeth glinting in the low light. Her hair was still in disarray, he could almost see the phantom paths his hands had raked through as they made love. She looked so soft like this, and he would never stop marveling at this unguarded side of her.

"You've got this line here," Lisbon said, drawing his attention back to her finger as it made it's downward sloping journey again, "Right between your eyebrows."

"Oh." Jane didn't look away, but he blinked as he mulled that over. While he was hardly one to worry about his appearance, her comment did spark a minor insecurity. Hardship and age had etched their marks upon his skin. He was not the gorgeous fool who had wooed Angela.

It had taken him ten years to reach this point with Lisbon, and ever since Pike had waltzed into her life the idea that he had waited too long had sprung on him. In the end, he hadn't been too late. Lisbon had made her choice and Jane had come out the better. Still, the wasted years dragged on his conscience.

"I like it." Her voice jolted him from the path his thoughts had veered down. Lisbon was watching him with something other than the gentle whimsical bliss she's possessed before. She knew that her attention to the wrinkle had affected him, but she wasn't quite sure how. However, her reassurance wasn't just a blind shot in the dark to assuage some vanity; Lisbon was being honest.

Jane smiled, rather surprised. "Yeah?" Her body responded to his light tone instantly, relaxing once more.

"Yeah," She murmured, her other hand rising to cup his cheek, "I do."

He wanted to ask why, because he found two possible reasons with their own implications. One, Lisbon always had a slight thing for older men (i.e. Bosco), and she thought the frown line made him look distinguished. That was purely aesthetic, and while he understood of course, Jane sort of hoped it was the second option.

It was possible she liked the reminder of their time spent together. After ten years they had grown as individuals and as partners, and Lisbon could be glad of the visual evidence that, after all that time, they were still together, stronger than ever.

Jane didn't ask. The possibility and the hope was enough and not something he wanted to break. So instead, he rubbed his cheek into the heel of her hand.

"And this?" He asked, the stubble brushing across her skin and sending shivers down her arm. "Do you like this too?"

Lisbon hummed, her hands holding him more firmly. The sheet slipped off her shoulders as she straddled him. "How about I show you what I like?" Lisbon said, a playful edge to her grin.

"Mmm, Teresa," Jane replied, stirring beneath her, "Go right ahead." She kissed him then, her hair falling and tickling his neck. It was gentle, slow, like the teasing brushes of her thighs against him. Jane pulled back after a moment, his thumb pressing into the corner of her mouth. "For the record," He declared in a breathless whisper, "This is my favorite line on your face." Lisbon blinked at him, her movement halting. "It comes out when you're happy, and I'm lucky enough to see it often." Jane continued, watching it flit into place as her lips curled around a shy smile. Then she was on him, kissing him deeply as she sank into him.

It was much later, when Lisbon finally succumbed to sleep, that Jane realized something. The way Lisbon had reacted to his compliment hadn't been one of easy acceptance or even stunned pleasure. She had been uncertain, quiet, and most strangely had sought to quiet him. All through their lovemaking she had kept his mouth occupied, never letting him get out more than her name or a moan at a time.

It set his mind abuzz, and Jane resolved to test his latest theory at the next available opportunity.

He began the next day, fetching her coffee which Lisbon accepted like it was the most natural thing in the world. As she sipped it, Jane took the opportunity to look her over. Like they'd agreed at the onset, Jane had left her place early that morning to come into work alone. While their relationship was hardly a secret, Lisbon preferred not to draw attention to it on the job. So Jane never got to see her clothes or hair or her light dusting of makeup until meeting her in the office. It was inconvenient how often the finished product stole his breath nowadays.

"Red has always been a lovely color on you." Jane told her, referring to the scoop necked blouse she wore under the blazer. Lisbon shot him a glance, equal parts shock and confusion. He had hardly a moment to ponder why she would be so shocked before she was brusquely getting him up to speed on the current case.

More cautious now, Jane waited until the next week to try again. Abbot had sent Lisbon and he to investigate the disappearance of a local Sheriff, and Jane had jumped on the chance to take the Airstream. Lisbon was in the passenger seat, idly watching the desert fly by. The road was practically deserted and completely straight, so Jane felt comfortable indulging in watching her from time to time.

She caught him staring, her lips falling open just a little. "What?" She asked with surprise.

Jane shrugged, glancing away but being drawn inevitably back. "Your hair," He told her after a moment's hesitation, "It's catching the sunlight beautifully." Her head tilted sharply, sending ripples through her golden tinted halo. Jane met her inquisitive, nearly incredulous look head on. "Really," He insisted, "I wish you could see it, it makes you look—"

"Fine, I get it." Lisbon interrupted him curtly, her mouth set in a firm line. Jane fell silent, watching as she turned away from him to stare listlessly out the window. Her armor was up, and though it pained him, Jane didn't bring up the exchange again. As they dug into the case, Lisbon's mind became preoccupied and she relaxed into their usual routine.

The final effort was made the night after they returned to Austin. They'd ordered in from a new place on Sixth Street and ate on her couch, bantering easily. Lisbon was eying him with a simmering heat, and Jane couldn't keep his hand from wandering. He was brushing little touches over her skin whenever he could, on her arm, her shoulder, her waist where her shirt had ridden up.

It was no surprise when they moved into the bedroom and Lisbon was pushing him onto the bed. Their outer layers had long been discarded, so her fingers worked diligently on freeing the buttons of his shirt. Jane kissed all along her neck, tucking her hair back for better access.

"You're so beautiful, Lisbon." He told her. She chose that moment to tug on his shoulders, prompting him to sit up and toss away his shirt. "You are," Jane continued undaunted, his own hands sliding up her body to take off her blouse, "Absolutely stunning. I've always—"

Lisbon kissed him, swallowing his sweet words before she could hear them. Her hands picked up their pace, pulling down his trousers and boxers in one go. But getting them off fully freed his mouth, which Jane immediately used to his advantage.

"I'd call you a godsend if I wasn't such a heathen." He murmured, raising his hips to help her divest him of his last clothing. Lisbon began to crawl up his body back to him, a glint in her eye. "There are days when I compare you to an angel, but you surpass—"

Jane gasped, breaking off. She had run a featherlight touch over his growing erection. Oh, that was cheating, she wasn't even naked yet.

He pulled her to him, letting her silence him with another kiss, this one deeper, more probing than the last. He worked quickly to remove her bra and unbutton her jeans. Lisbon, probably imagining that he'd given up, pulled away to tug them off.

"I think about you all the time." Jane confessed lowly, catching her attention. Her eyes were wide, her cheeks flushed, her jaw hard with that touch of anger. "Your lips, your breasts, your hips, they follow me everywhere." Her jeans were kicked to the side with a growl as Lisbon descended on him. Jane didn't flinch when her hand closed tight over his mouth.

"Will. You. _Stop_." She grit out, her naked body covering his at every point. Minutely, Jane shook his head. She heaved a harsh sigh. "Quit trying to butter me up." Lisbon demanded, her expression hard. "Whatever you're after, just say it, don't play mind games with me."

That was probably the one sentence she could've said which made his pulse race and his blood boil. In one move he pushed off the bed and flipped them, covering Lisbon beneath him. It might've been the shock of his bold move that allowed him to manhandle her, but more likely Lisbon had gone along with it. She looked up at him, her eyes still narrowed and her cheeks still pink.

"When are you ever going to trust me?" Jane asked, voice carefully controlled.

They were far enough down the bed that he could grab her wrists and raise them above her head. He held them tight, pressing into the mattress. Predictably, Lisbon flexed beneath him, testing his grip. He held strong. If she truly wanted to break free, she might've been able to, but Jane had weight and gravity on his side and he wasn't ready to let her go.

She didn't really try. "I trust you, Patrick." Lisbon said quietly, looking up at him as her anger faded to contrition.

"Then believe me when I tell you you're beautiful." He retorted sternly. "Believe that I am not buttering you up or playing _games_ when I try and tell you how I feel." This was punctuated by a jerk of his hands that had Lisbon arching under him.

"Okay." She mumbled, her gaze cast downwards at his chest.

Jane shook his head. "Now I'm the one who doesn't believe you." Absently he was aware of his breathing being harsh, his back muscles tensing, and his erection brushing her stomach. Those were secondary concerns. At the moment he was so far within his own head that the physical world meant nothing.

"Jane, come on," Lisbon added with a frown, "Let's just—"

"I think, while I've got your attention, I've got to tell you all the things you don't want to hear." That ominous threat shut her up. He lowered himself to whisper in her ear, "Teresa Lisbon, you are the most brave, noble, and obstinate woman I have ever met." She squirmed restlessly against him. The power in his words was a heady rush. "You care with such intense ferocity about everyone but yourself, when you deserve to be loved far more than me."

"That's not true." Lisbon retorted, sounding breathless. Jane pulled back just enough to look at her as he spoke.

"You give far more than you take. Endlessly, it seems like. Penance that no one asked of you." Her eyes were pained and he could hear the accusation that went unsaid: _who are you to talk of penance?_ "The two years we were apart," He went on, deliberately lighter, "You let yourself relax, probably for the first time since I've known you. I can tell. It was good for you. You carry yourself a lot easier now, you show affection without your old stiffness, and—"

"Did you ever think," Lisbon's murmur was tender, unlike her earlier protests, "That it was you coming back that made me this way?" Jane stilled, his chest tight. No, he'd assumed that the two years that he dealt with his latent grief and made the effort to become a better person, Lisbon had been maturing and developing into this more confident, calm woman. It hadn't occurred to him that his presence was what changed her.

Unable to deny himself any longer, Jane shifted so her wrists were both held in one hand. The grip was far looser, but Lisbon didn't move. He was free now to roam down her body, fingers playing over her curves. She bucked underneath him as he let himself touch.

"I thought about you like this for years." He said with an unintentionally raspy voice. "Guiltily then. I told myself I was simply admiring your beauty, and I was, but there was more to it. There was always more to us." He cupped her breast, over her heart, feeling her breathe. "It's a good thing I didn't see you in more dresses back then. Grace's bridesmaid's dress was bad enough, if I'd witnessed you in that art sting number, we would've had a lot more complications."

"Both of those were your doing." She pointed out, but the heat was missing from her tone, replaced by panting.

Jane's hand ventured away from her breasts, feeling her slump back into the bed, instead playing with the tips of her hair. "I memorized all of your hair styles," He said, sweeping up her neck to her jaw, "I'd commit every part of you to memory if I could. That said, you occupy a large part of my mind palace as it is." Realizing it had been far too long, he kissed her then, feeling her push into him gratefully.

"Please, Patrick," She moaned when they parted, "No more teasing."

"Who's teasing?" He asked, but his hand was already traveling down and nudging between her thighs. Stroking over her, Lisbon's breath caught and she sighed, her head lolling back. "Lord, you're amazing like this." Jane said in a rush, concentrating on the spot that drove her wild. Sweet uneven breaths and bitten off moans spilled from her lips as she met his touch.

"The way you move captivates me." The words were bubbling up freely now of their own accord. "I'll never stop being awed by you, Teresa. Everything I know about you, I love, _everything_." Her head rose, and Jane held her astute gaze. "Your smile lines, your scars, the cross you bear, all of it."

Her breathing was heavy, her body rubbing against his, her folds wet under his fingers, but her eyes were glistening. They held meaning he wanted to dive into but couldn't fathom. Even though his focus was on her, and his arousal was barely a second thought, Jane was breathless with this burning need to articulate everything he needed to say.

"You… I love…" Overcome, this time Jane was the one who cut himself off by kissing her fiercely. Lisbon welcomed him, her wrists straining to stay under his weak hold. She bucked into his fingers as he worked her steadily, each circle thrusting her closer to the edge. Jane could feel her coming before he heard her, her muscles tensing, her hips stuttering harder into him. He swallowed her cry with his kiss, feeling her pleasure shudder between them.

When her body went pliant, Jane pulled away. Feeling very close to guilty, he released her wrists altogether. Immediately Lisbon wrapped her arms around his back and rolled them onto their sides, keeping them face to face. She was aglow, a vision. In her eyes there was a burgeoning wonderment, as if she were the lucky one rather than him.

"You oughta write sonnets." Lisbon remarked with a voice like stained glass. Jane laughed low against her skin as she took him for all he had.

**Author's Note:**

> I finally caught up on The Mentalist now that school's over and man am I feeling those feelings. Expect more Jisbon from me.
> 
> Also, am I the only one who finds the line between Jane's eyebrows really adorable (read: sexy)?


End file.
